MORNING REPORT - News from May 23, 2000

PEOPLE

Bringing Some Joy: Country music star Randy Travis and his wife-manager, Elizabeth, are organizing a benefit concert Sunday at Santa Fe Opera Theater for victims of the Los Alamos fire, and have lined up a substantial cast of supporting players. Among those scheduled to appear at “Randy Travis in Concert--New Mexico Fire Disaster Relief” are Paul Rodriguez, Melissa Etheridge, Michael Martin Murphey, Ali MacGraw and Gary Morris. Prior to the concert, a silent auction will be held. “It is my belief that things happen for a reason,” Randy Travis said in making the announcement. “We ask ourselves why the loss, the suffering, the hardship? Why has God brought this to his people? . . . Is it to bring humanity closer together to help each other in time of need?” Travis, who lives with his wife in Santa Fe, added, “We hope we can bring a little joy to a community that has been under such a black cloud since the beginning of May.”

Student Award Winners: Twelve U.S. film students, including four from Los Angeles-area universities, have been selected by members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as winners of the 27th annual Student Academy Awards competition. The local winners in the animation category are Tod Polson of CalArts in Valencia for “Al Tudi Tuhak” (“Long, Long Ago”), Amy Winfrey of UCLA for “The Bad Plant” and Jose Javier Martinez of UCLA for “Luz.” Kennedy Wheatley of USC was a winner in the documentary category for “Iron Ladies.” While the students know they each will receive an award, the level of the award--gold, silver or bronze--will not be revealed until the awards ceremony June 11. The awards are $2,000, $1,500 and $1,000.

TELEVISION

NOW Bites Fox: The National Organization for Women said Monday it was giving a “network of shame” award to Fox, based on a “feminist prime-time report card” it prepared on the February programming aired by the big four broadcast networks. NOW said it evaluated shows based on their violence, gender composition, sexual exploitation and social responsibility. NBC came out the best while Fox fared the worst, with such programs as “Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?” and “Getting Away With Murder: The JonBenet Ramsey Story.” Fox declined to comment, although insiders noted that Fox’s lowest-scoring shows aired one time only and the NOW report praised many of the network’s regular series. NOW said it plans protests across the country based on the findings and also plans to meet with advertisers in hopes of getting them to shun objectionable programming. “We don’t see much need to talk to the networks; they know what we want,” said NOW President Patricia Ireland.

LEGAL FILE

Not Fair?: Singer Bobby Brown was ordered Monday to remain in a Florida jail until a hearing is held June 19 on whether he violated his probation stemming from a drunk driving charge. Brown smiled and shook his head after Circuit Judge Leonard Feiner refused to grant him bond. “It’s not fair, man, it’s not fair,” Brown told his attorney, Bruce Lyons, after the hearing. Brown’s wife, singer Whitney Houston, did not attend. Brown spent five days in jail in 1998 and was placed on probation for a year after he was convicted of drunk driving in a 1996 accident. A warrant was issued for Brown’s arrest last June after his probation officer said Brown tested positive for cocaine. Brown, who has a home in Mendham, N.J., was arrested May 10 at the airport in Newark, N.J., as he and Houston arrived from the Bahamas. He was then returned to Florida, where he has been held without bond.

Harassment, Wrongful Termination?: A former executive for James Brown’s company has sued the singer for more than $1 million, claiming she was fired for refusing his sexual advances. Lisa Ross Agbalaya was president of West Coast operations for the New James Brown Enterprises Inc. and James Brown West, where her duties included getting singing and appearance contracts for the entertainer. Agbalaya, who was fired in February, said she had worked for Brown since 1993. “Mr. Brown repeatedly harassed Mrs. Agbalaya and propositioned her for sex, despite his knowledge that she had been happily married for eight years and was the mother of two children,” attorney Shelly D. McMillan said in a wrongful termination and sexual harassment lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. Brown’s attorney Debra Opri could not be reached for comment. The 66-year-old “Godfather of Soul” has recorded such hits as “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” and “Living in America.”

MUSIC

High Notes: The Santa Barbara Symphony has received its first-ever $1-million gift from longtime local supporters John and Linda Hedgepeth, symphony General Manager Robert Birman announced. The gift closes the first phase of the orchestra’s multiyear campaign to build the endowment fund. The donation will endow the conductor’s salary in perpetuity, Birman said, and will be known as “The John M. and Linda L. Hedgepeth Conductor’s Podium.” “We have known most of the conductors of the symphony, and they have all been excellent,” said Linda Hedgepeth. “Gisele Ben-Dor happens to be our favorite . . . and John and I are most pleased to give this gift while she occupies the conductor’s podium.” Meanwhile, the symphony’s “Concerts for Young People” series has received the Gold Book award from the American Symphony Orchestra League for “innovative and outstanding” youth education.